QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR WOOF LINE

Dog poop is bad for the environment. When dog poop is not picked up it can make you and your pet sick by contaminating water and food sources. doo-n-go™ poop bags are strong, durable, and leak proof so your hands and clothes will stay clean. Our bags give you a choice of sizes, materials, and scents to make leaving a green paw print easy.

Not in the strictest sense of the word. Since 2006 we’ve made it our mission to make products that help pet owners Leave a Green Paw Print. The Competition Bureau of Canada and the Federal Trade Commission in the US have made changes to regulations that affect the pet waste industry. These changes have revised the definitions of terms like “biodegradable”, “degradable”, and “compostable” accepted by the regulators. This means that companies who label their products as “biodegradable” are no longer allowed do so because it’s misleading for consumers.

We do not label our bags “biodegradable”. Our Original bags are made with d2w, an additive that helps them break down faster than traditional plastics as long as oxygen and light are present, and they meet the ASTM D6954-04 standard.

Our unscented Corn bags are made with corn starch from non-petroleum based PLA, and they meet the ASTM D6400 standard.

We promise to continually improve our product, if we can make a better bag we will. Please check with your municipality about their policies regarding pet waste bags.

Yes! But remember to check with your municipality about their policies for flushable products. If allowed, leave the bag untied and let it dissolve a little bit in the toilet before you flush. If not, Splash bags can be safely thrown in the trash.

Not in the strictest sense of the word. The definition of “compostable” is regulated to protect consumers from companies who “green wash” their products. Doo-n-go™ Corn bags are our alternative to “compostable” bags.

QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR MEOW LINE

As you know, changing your kitty’s litter is gross – there’s dust, and dried poop, what a mess! Litter liners help make changing kitty’s litter safe and easy. Liners reduce dust during litter change and prevent urine and fecal matter from sticking to the bottom of the box.

SCIENCE BEHIND THE BAGS

Everything in the world is made of molecules – groups of atoms that are chemically bonded together. A plastic is a material made from long, complicated chains of grouped molecules called polymers. Plastics, unlike less complicated materials, can take decades to decay.

The polymers that make plastics are very large and complicated. This makes it hard for oxygen to start the decomposition process. Traditional plastics are made from ingredients that can’t be consumed by micro-organisms. This means that traditional plastics are not biodegradable. Without the aid of micro-organisms, plastics in the natural environment are broken down mainly by heat and oxygen.

doo-n-go™ Original bags are made with an additive called d2w. When d2w is added to plastic during the manufacturing process it helps to control the plastic’s life span. The total useful life of the bag depends upon the amount of d2w added to the mixture and the bag’s exposure to light and oxygen. At the end of the bag’s useful life it begins to degrade at a faster rate than traditional plastic bags as long as it is exposed to light and oxygen. If a doo-n-go™ Original poop bag ends up in the natural environment it will breakdown instead of sticking around.

d2w causes the faster degradation. d2w gives oxygen access to the strong bonds that make plastic polymers stick together. Oxygen encourages the bonds to breakdown. Without d2w plastics may not degrade for decades – some research suggests that traditional plastics may take hundreds of years to decompose. d2w makes sure that doesn’t happen as long as it has access to oxygen and sunlight.

Plastics with d2w will breakdown in the natural environment in just a few years and won’t leave harmful residues or heavy metals behind. Plastic products made with d2w can be recycled with traditional plastics without contaminating the recycling process.

ASTM International develops standards and guidelines for product quality and safety, as well as standardized, reliable methods for testing product quality and safety. doo-n-go™ Original bags meet the ASTM D6954-04 standard which describes how to test plastics that use oxygen and sunlight in the degradation process. doo-n-go™ Corn bags meet the ASTM D6400 standard specification for plastics that can be composted in industrial facilities. ASTM D6400 outlines how to test whether a product will degrade like organic, compostable materials. For a material to meet this standard it must degrade harmlessly in the compost environment by 60% within 180 days without leaving any chemical residues behind.

Poop bags should be disposed of in the trash, even the Corn bags. While corn starch based material meets the ASTM D6400 standard it’s not considered suitable for every type of composter. Many industrial composters have policies preventing them from accepting “bioplastics” in their facilities; (always contact your local composting facility to see if they accept pet waste and corn-based bags). To ensure safe disposal throw your poop bags in the garbage.

But don’t feel too bad, there’s good news on the landfill front. Modern landfills are designed to compact and lock layers of garbage between layers of dirt. The general idea is to prevent the garbage from breaking down, degrading, biodegrading, or composting. It seems counter intuitive but there’s a good reason: despite the best efforts of the landfill operators water will always end up in the landfill. If the garbage dissolves and mixes with the water it will cause a harmful, chemical liquid to leach into the surrounding soil. When biodegradable and compostable materials end up in the landfill they breakdown and cause leaching. That’s why it’s important to make sure HDPE and Corn bags are trashed.

We use PVA to make our Splash poop bags. PVA stands for polyvinyl alcohol. It’s not plastic, it’s vinyl, it’s non-petroleum, and it’s the same stuff used to make detergent pods. PVA has very interesting properties that make it an excellent material for our Splash poop bags: strong, flexible, and won’t lose consistency in substances other than water. Just a heads up, PVA does absorb moisture from the air. So it’s normal if your bag begins to form a residue in wet or humid weather. To prevent this, store your bags in a cool and dry place away from direct sunlight and moisture.

We love communication. If your question was not answered here or there’s something that doesn’t make sense please let us know.